The present invention relates to a communication system and a control unit suitable therefor. In particular the present invention relates to a communication system and a control unit suitable therefor which are able to be carried by the user without using his hands, the communication system comprising one or more signal receiving modules, which each receive signals from the vicinity of the communication system and convert them into electrical, or respectively optical signals and/or digital data, and the communication system comprising one or more signal emitting modules which are each able to convert electrical, or respectively optical signals and/or digital data into signals which are perceived by the user through his sense organs or are emitted into the surroundings of the communication system.
Communication systems which are able to be carried by a user, without using his hands, are already available. There are, for example, hand-free portable communication systems comprising a mobile radio telephone removably attached to a carrying belt and connectible via a cable interface to a combined headphone/microphone set. In this example of an available communication system, the microphone and the radio receiver of the mobile radio telephone represent signal receiving modules that receive acoustical signals, or respectively radio signals, from the surroundings of the communication system, while the headphones and the radio transmitter of the mobile radio telephone represent signal emitting modules which emit acoustical signals to the sense organs of the user, or respectively radio signals to the surroundings of the communication system.
Described in the patent application DE 197 55 264 A1 is a portable computer system able to be controlled by the user through spoken language and/or body movements. The computer system according to DE 197 55 264 A1 comprises a helmet-mounted display device which is connected via a fiber optics cable to a processing computer and/or to other actuation and signal emitting components. According to the teaching disclosed in DE 197 55 264 A1, a remotely located computer with helmet-oriented components can be connected via a radio link. The linking described in DE 197 55 264 A1 of components of the computer system by means of fiber optics cable(s) has the advantage that it is particularly secure with respect to magnetic and electrostatic interference. Furthermore cable connections for the linking of the system components carried by the user is often perceived by users as uncomfortable or even annoying, for example because cables can get tangled up in clothing or other objects. Several cables are needed for connection of a plurality of components, which further increases the cited drawback.
Described in the patent application EP 767 417 A1 is a hands-free portable and hands-free operable computer system, which can be controlled by the user through spoken language, brain waves, eye and/or body movements. The computer system according to EP 767 417 A1 consists essentially of a headset and a local computer attached to a carrying belt, which computer is connected, without cables, to the headset via a wireless interface, in particular an infrared interface. Described in the patent application EP 767 417 A1is that, for communication with a remotely located computer, connections between the local computer and the remote computer can be achieved by means of radio transceiver or cellular mobile radio telephone. The connection described in EP 767 417 A1between the headset and the local computer using scattered infrared light has the advantage of not having the drawbacks of cable-oriented connections and of being rather secure with respect to unauthorized attempts to listen in remotely. On the other hand, infrared interfaces have the disadvantage that they require an unobstructed transmission field between the communication partners, so that the local computer cannot be worn under clothing impermeable to light, for instance, which is once again perceived by users as a restrictive drawback.
In the documents XP-000784002, Haartsen J. et al.: xe2x80x9cBluetooth: Vision, Goals and Architecture,xe2x80x9d Mobile Computing and Communications Review, US, ACM, New York, volume 2, number 4, 1998, pages 38 to 45, and XP-000783249, Haartsen J.: xe2x80x9cBluetoothxe2x80x94The universal radio interface for ad hoc, wireless connectivityxe2x80x9d, Ericsson Review, SE, Ericsson, Stockholm, number 3, 1998, pages 110 to 117, the so-called Bluetooth radio interface is described. The Bluetooth radio interface makes it possible to interconnect portable electronic devices such as laptop computers, mobile radio telephones, headphones/speech accessories or computer mouses over short distances for wireless data communication. By means of the Bluetooth technology, the devices are automatically and dynamically interconnected when they are located within their mutual range. By means of Bluetooth technology, up to maximally eight devices, a master and seven slaves can be interconnected in a so-called Piconet. In Bluetooth a device can belong to a plurality of Piconets at the same time in the role of a slave, but be active in only one Piconet at a particular point in time.
In the document XP-002141075, xe2x80x9cJini Technology and Emerging Network Technologies,xe2x80x9d Sun Microsystems, online (http://www.sun.com.jini/whitepapers/technologies.pdf) 1999, pages 1 to 3, the Jini technology based on Java is described, which makes possible the development of service applications between two electronic devices such as Personal Data Assistants (PDA), television devices, digital cameras, fax machines or mobile radio telephones via network protocols such as Bluetooth (Java and Jini are registered trademarks of the company Sun Microsystems).
It is an object of this invention to propose a new and better portable, hands-free communication system and a portable, hands-free control unit suitable therefor, which make possible in particular a flexible configuration of signal receiving modules and signal emitting modules as components of the communication system as well as a cable-free connection of these components.
This object is achieved according to the invention through the elements of the independent claims. Further advantageous embodiments follow moreover from the dependent claims and from the description.
These goals are achieved through the present invention in that signal receiving modules of the hands-free portable communication system which each receive signals from the surroundings of the communication system and convert them into electrical and/or optical signals and/or into digital data, and signal emitting modules of the communication system which each convert electrical and/or optical signals and/or digital data into signals, able to be perceived by the user via his sense organs or emitted into the surroundings of the communication system, each have a radio device interface, and the communication system comprises at least one control unit with at least one radio device interface, which control unit is set up such that data from the said modules, i.e. from the signal receiving modules and the signal emitting modules, is able to be received in the control unit via the radio device interface, data from the control unit is able to be transmitted to the said modules via the radio device interface in a selective way, and said modules are able to be added to the communication system and removed from the communication system in a dynamic way. To achieve the aforementioned feature, the control unit comprises register means to register, or respectively unregister, automatically said modules which are added to, or respectively removed from, the communication system dynamically by the user. The advantage of the connection of signal receiving modules and signal emitting modules via a radio device interface with a control unit comprising automatic registration means for dynamic registration of said modules is that these components (modules and control unit) are able to be combined contactlessly, without use of cables and without needed unobstructed optical contact, into a flexibly configurable communication system, this communication system also being in particular mobile, and able to be used in a mobile way. The flexibility consists thereby in that modules, in particular mobile and portable modules, each have a radio device interface, are able to be added to, or respectively removed from, the communication system dynamically by the user without further effort or expenditure, depending upon which functionality of the communication system the user desires at the particular point in time, or respectively which modules the user has available. Components (modules and control unit) that are not integrated into a headset can be carried by the user in carrying belts suitable therefor, for example, over or under clothing or in one or more existing pockets in the clothing and can be used in particular in a mobile way, special designs, for instance a control unit in the form of a wristwatch, or signal receiving modules to be carried on predefined parts of the body, which register e.g. bodily movements/positions, are also possible, however. The selective transmission of data by the control unit via the radio device interface to the said modules facilitates data being able to be transmitted in a targeted way to a specific module, to a group of specific modules or to all modules of the communication system.
Cited here, in a non-exhaustive way, as examples of possible signal receiving modules should be video sensors for receiving light signals, radio receivers for receiving radio signals, for instance radio signals of mobile radio networks, in particular GSM and/or UMTS networks, and/or of broadcast systems, in particular DAB and/or DVB systems, infrared receivers for receiving infrared signals, microphones for receiving acoustical signals, pressure sensors for receiving mechanical pressure, eye position determining units for determining the current direction of view of at least one eye of the user and body part position determining units for determining the current position of parts of the body of the user.
Cited here, in a non-exhaustive way, as examples of possible signal emitting modules should be display units for visible reproduction of information for the user, electro-acoustical converters for reproduction of information in audible form for the user, vibration units for indicating predefined events for the user by means of mechanical vibrations, radio transmitters, for instance radio transmitters for communication via mobile radio networks, in particular GSM and/or UMTS networks, and infrared transmitters.
It should also be stated here that certain signal receiving modules and signal emitting modules can be combined, for instance a microphone, headphones and a display unit, or a display unit and an eye position determining unit, or a radio transmitter and a radio receiver, or a video sensor and a display unit, also in a joint device configuration, e.g. in a headset, it being possible to provide for a common radio device interface and/or a common energy storage unit in the device configuration, for example.
According to the invention the control unit comprises means, for example a processor and a memory for programs and data, with program unit executable on the processor stored therein, of forwarding data, received by the control unit from a particular signal receiving module, to a signal emitting module assigned to the particular signal receiving module, the control unit being set up such that selection of at least certain signal receiving modules and the assigning of at least certain signal emitting modules to certain signal receiving modules can be configured by the user. The advantage of user-determinable assignment of signal receiving modules to signal emitting modules and the forwarding of data, which have been received, for example, by the signal receiving module in accordance with this configuration via the radio device interface is that separate modules can be interconnected for co-operation in a flexible way by the user (or according to stored preferred values). Thus data received by a signal receiving module, for instance a radio receiver of a mobile radio telephone, can be forwarded via the radio device interface and the control unit contactlessly to a signal emitting module, for example, depending upon the type of data, audio data to headphones and/or textual data to a display unit.
In a preferred embodiment variant, the control unit comprises functional units for processing data before their transmission to a signal emitting module, the activation, deactivation and/or way of functioning of at least certain functional units being able to be configured by the user. The processing of data by functional units prior to forwarding to a signal emitting modules makes possible almost unlimited possibilities, in particular modules being able to be interconnected for co-operation relating to different data types or respectively signal types.
Cited here, in a non-exhaustive way, as examples of possible functional units should be speech synthesis units for generating synthetic speech from textual data, speech recognition units for recognizing spoken text, image processing units for recognition of picture objects, user-specific data filters, signal frequency filters and/or signal frequency transformation units which shift the frequency spectrum of signals, or respectively of data corresponding to these signals.
In a preferred embodiment variant, the control unit comprises a command unit in order to recognize data which are received by the control unit from the signal receiving module, to recognize them as commands and to initiate the execution of predefined function blocks in accordance with a recognized command, the control unit being set up such that signal receiving modules whose data is supposed to be examined by the command unit for commands contained therein are definable by the user. The advantage of the command unit which analyzes the data of signal receiving modules and can recognize commands contained therein, in particular user commands, is that, depending upon the signal receiving modules available, different (user-) interfaces can be made accessible, suitable signal receiving modules which the user wants to use for entry of commands being able to be selected by the user. For example, by means of a speech recognition module, the command unit can recognize commands which are spoken into a microphone, or the command unit can recognize commands on the basis of current directions of view which have been received in the control unit from an eye position determining unit, or the command unit can recognize commands which are entered by a signal receiving module manually by means of operating elements, or the command unit can recognize commands on the basis of current positions of particular parts of the body of the user which are received in the control unit from a body part position determining unit.
In an embodiment variant, one of the functional blocks is designed in such a way that a recognized command is forwarded to external units outside the communication system via the radio device interface and/or via an infrared interface, the communication system being able to be used also outside the communication system, for instance for control of correspondingly equipped external units.
In an embodiment variant, the communication system comprises a removable storage unit, for example a chipcard, in which module parameters are stored, which influence the operation of individual said modules, and/or configuration parameters, which determine the interaction between said modules and/or identify signal receiving modules whose data is supposed to be examined by the command unit for commands contained therein. These module parameters and configuration parameters can be stored as alternatives or in addition also in a permanent data store of the communication system, in particular in the control unit. The removable storage unit can be furthermore provided with means for unambiguous user identification, for example the removable memory unit can be designed as an identification unit with an unambiguous user identification, in particular as SIM card (Subscriber Identification Module). The identification unit can be a component of a mobile radio telephone, for example, which, as a combined signal receiving and signal emitting module, is connected to the control unit via the radio device interface, or the identification unit can be a component of the control unit. The advantage of the identification unit is that it makes possible configuration and use of the portable communication system as a personal communication system, without using one""s hands, user-specific parameters, in particular module parameters, which influence the operation of individual said modules, and/or configuration parameters, which determine the interaction between two or more said modules, being stored in the identification unit.
In an embodiment variant, at least certain of the said modules data stores for storing the above-mentioned module parameters, which influence the operation of the respective module, these data stores being accessible to the control unit in a secure way via the radio device interface, so that module parameters cannot be set by other, external radio units outside the communication system by accident or in an unauthorized way. The module parameters can be entered, for example, by the user via a user interface made available therefor, or can be received from a suitable external service unit outside the communication system by means of a radio receiver, for instance via a mobile radio network, and transmitted from the control unit to the respective module.
In an embodiment variant, the above-mentioned video sensor comprises at least one microelectromechanical (MEM) scanner for registering light signals. The advantage of microelectromechanical scanners is, among other things, that they can also be used for direct projection of light signals onto the retina. Thus the above-mentioned display unit comprises, in an embodiment variant, a virtual retinal display unit, based on at least one microelectromechanical scanner, which projects lights signals directly on the retina of the user.
In an embodiment variant, the communication system comprises at least one signal transformation module in which signal transformation module a signal receiving module and a signal emitting module are linked together via a signal processing unit, the signal processing unit processing electrical and/or optical signals from the aforementioned signal receiving unit based on module parameters of the signal transformation module and forwarding them to the aforementioned signal emitting module. Cited here, in a non-exhaustive way, as examples of signal transformation modules and their module parameters should be hearing aids and their user-specific hearing parameters as well as special seeing aids, for example night vision devices which transform light signals from the infrared range into visible light signals and their user-specific seeing parameters.
It should be mentioned here that, besides the communication system according to the invention, the present invention also relates to a control unit for achieving this communication system.